Money Talks for U.S. Commandos

[unhappycamper]

Money Talks for U.S. Commandos
Associated Press | September 18, 2007

WASHINGTON - From the Philippines to Iraq, money talks and American commandos want to keep on handing out the dollars.

The Defense Department is urging Congress to extend a counterterrorism tool that gives Green Berets and Navy SEALs up to $25 million a year to pay for information, buy guns for allied forces and hire fighters willing to battle al-Qaida.

The House and Senate are split, however, over whether to renew that authority because of questions about how productive the tool has been.

A decision is expected in the next few weeks as lawmakers craft a military spending bill for fiscal year 2008, which begins Oct. 1.

The little-noticed authority, approved in 2004, has been a hit within the special operations ranks because it relieved these front-line troops of waiting for the CIA to distribute the cash.

That was a problem in the early days of the war in Afghanistan when commandos were working with the Northern Alliance to defeat the Taliban. There were times when a CIA officer wasn't immediately available to close a hastily arranged deal, according to reports following the 2001 invasion.

Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,149641,00.html?wh=wh

[Joanne98]

1. NO!

[unhappycamper]

2. Those little noticed authorities keep popping up all over the place. n/t